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Background: Multisite pain, including low-back and knee pain, is a major health issue that greatly decreases quality of life.Objectives: This study analyzed the effects of l-serine, which provides necessary components for nerve function, and EPA, which exerts anti-inflammatory properties, on pain scores of adults with pain in at least the low back and knee for ≥3 mo.Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. The Japan Low Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JLEQ) and Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure (JKOM) were applied as primary outcomes. The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and safety evaluation were secondary outcomes. We enrolled 120 participants aged ≥20 y (36 men and 84 women: mean ± SD age = 40.8 ± 10.9 y). The participants were randomly allocated to either the active group (daily ingestion of 594 mg l-serine and 149 mg EPA) or placebo group. The study period consisted of 8-wk dosing and 4-wk posttreatment observation. ANCOVA between groups for each time point was conducted using the baseline scores as covariates.Results: The JLEQ scores (active compared with placebo: 14.2 ± 11.2 compared with 19.0 ± 10.2) at week 8 were lower in the active group (P < 0.001). The JKOM scores at week 4 (11.7 ± 9.0 compared with 13.9 ± 7.9), week 8 (10.4 ± 7.9 compared with 13.1 ± 7.1), and week 12 (10.3 ± 7.4 compared with 13.8 ± 7.5) were lower in the active group (P ≤ 0.04). Additionally, the active group had 11-27% better scores compared with the placebo group for BPI1 (worst pain), BPI3 (average pain), and BPI5D (pain during moving) at week 4 (P ≤ 0.028) and week 8 (P ≤ 0.019), respectively, and BPI5D was 23% better in the active group at week 12 (P = 0.007). No adverse events were observed.Conclusions: l-Serine and EPA were effective for pain relief in adults with low-back and knee pain after multiplicity adjustment.This trial was registered at the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry as UMIN000035056. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lentinan (LNT) is an immune adjuvant medicine for advanced gastric cancer in Japan. Recently, an oral formulation of superfine dispersed lentinan (SDL) has become clinically available. To investigate the safety and effectiveness of SDL, a multi center clinical study in patients with advanced colorectal cancer was conducted., Patients and Methods: Adverse events were assessed and the patients' quality of life (QOL) and the binding ability of peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) to LNT were also evaluated., Results: Four grade 2 adverse events associated with SDL treatment were observed among the 80 patients. Adverse events associated with chemotherapy were observed in 9 out of the 64 chemotherapy-treated patients. Among the 48 patients assessed for QOL, the patients with low QOL scores before SDL treatment (n=23) reported a significant improvement in their QOL scores after 12 weeks of SDL administration. The rates of LNT-binding PBM in the QOL-improved group were significantly higher than those in the QOL-not-improved group (p<0.05)., Conclusion: SDL was safe and effective for suppressing the adverse effects of chemotherapy as well as improving QOL. The binding ability of PBM to LNT appears to be a promising predictor of QOL improvement after SDL administration.

Background/aims: Recently, complementary alternative medicine is actively performed for cancer therapy. We investigated the effectiveness of supplementary food containing superfine dispersed lentinan (beta-1,3-glucan) in patients with unresectable or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in a multi-center study., Methodology: Peripheral blood was collected prior to the test food ingestion and was incubated with fluorescein-labeled lentinan. The rates of lentinan-binding CD14+ monocytes were determined by flow cytometry. Patient survival times were followed up for 3 years., Results: Thirty-six patients were eligible among 40 enrolled patients. Median survival time of eligible patients was 13.6 months (95% confidence interval, 8.7-18.9 months). Survival times of patients who ingested test food for a mean period of 47 weeks (range, 26 to 145 weeks) were significantly longer than that of patients who ingested for 7 to 12 weeks (p < 0.05). The rates of lentinan-binding cells in CD14+ monocytes showed individual variations (0.1-19.7%; Median, 1.6%). Survival times (median survival time, 16.3 months) of lentinan-high-binding group were significantly longer than those (median survival time, 12.5 months) of lentinan-low-binding group (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: A superfine dispersed lentinan-containing supplementary food is effective for hepatocellular carcinoma patients' survival. Long-time ingestion is preferable. Assessment of lentinan-binding CD14+ monocytes is a promising prognostic predictor.